First Assignment
by DaydreamerNightwriter
Summary: Set 20 years on from 'A Last Goodbye and a First Hello' as Jeanne takes her first assignment onboard the Enterprise.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, here goes, this is fairly long so far so I'm posting it in stages (so that my beta reader doesn't get brain freeze, she's not a big Star Trek fan.) Hope you enjoy, please R&R so that I can make corrections etc, c x

* * *

She looked out at the expanse of sea before her. It shimmered in shades of purple as the sun set on her home world. A movement alerted her, belatedly considering her talent, to the presence of another behind her. She turned to find Deanna Troi regarding her.

'Are you ready?' She asked, her full lips not moving.

'Yes, mother, I am.' The girl glanced at the sea once more, feeling a slight pang. A touch on her shoulder reminded her. "Computer, end programme." The image around her dissolved and she was left in the harsh grey and yellow grid of the Holodeck. She was unsure if her mother would disappear with her home world, but seeing her still standing there made her quickly recall which ship she had now been assigned to.

'You were homesick?' A mix of statement and question came into her mind from her mother.

'For Betazed? Yes. Always.' She replied. Since a Starship was no place for a child to grow up, her mother had sent her to their home planet to live with her grandmother. It was only after the death of the indomitable Lwaxana that Deanna had decided to bring her daughter aboard the ship she had then been serving upon. Deanna nodded and turned away from her daughter to the door.

"I remember when I first came aboard a Star Fleet ship." She spoke aloud now, her voice echoing in the empty room. "It was so… alien, and I felt so alone. A young Lieutenant took pity upon me, and helped me create that programme. it has travelled with me ever since. "

"Counsellor Troi, report to the bridge." A voice cracked over the Comm. System, seconds before the hall began flashing red and the ship's Computer's emotionless voice joined the whirring klaxon. "All hands battle stations. Red Alert. All hands battle stations."

"That means me as well then." The girl sighed. Deanna looked at her daughter and nodded, inwardly wishing that she hadn't been assigned to the same ship.

"On my way, Captain." She touched her Combadge and made for the Turbolift, her daughter shadowing her. "Bridge." Lieutenant Troi had been appointed to join them as temporary Tactical Officer, until their official one joined them at the Starbase; Deanna was still undecided as to whether she wanted her daughter onboard or not. This was a Federation Starship, it faced more dangers than one could possibly imagine, and she thought wryly, she should know. She'd been serving aboard them for more than 35 years now, and now all those she cared for most were on board the same ship. The Turbolift doors fssshed open and Deanna moved swiftly to her chair next to the Captain, stumbling once as a torpedo just missed them.

"It exploded off the port bow, Captain, no damage." The ensign manning her daughter's console called out, as his fingers slid across its surface to bring up the information. He glanced towards Lieutenant Troi, standing in the doorway. She always paused there, she couldn't help it, it hadn't sunk in yet that she was really on this ship. It was 16 years since she had first stood on this bridge, a slight four year old with masses of black curly hair and wide oval eyes, clinging to her mother's hand and presence as the gruff captain had smiled down upon his namesake. All had changed now and Jeanne hurried to take her place behind the Captain's chair, smiling briefly at the Ensign as he made space for her.

"Jeanne, report!" the Captain barked. She glanced at the screen.

"The two Borg ships are 20 Kilometres off our Port Nacelle. Firing three photon torpedoes in one shot. No hits." The ship rocked as one made contact, the others flying into space. "Minimal damage, aft shields at 95, all others holding." She read off quickly and succinctly in the clipped tones she had inherited from her father. "Engineering…" she clutched the console as the ship was smashed again, and felt the weight of the young Ensign crash into her back. She stuck an arm out for him to steady himself on and continued. "Engineering reports Warp engines are back online. New damage reports, minor damage to the Starboard Nacelle, shields at 65, minor injuries reported across the ship." Her console flashed as the Ensign pulled himself up to stand beside her. "We're being hailed."

"By the Borg?"

"No, it's a Federation ship, Excelsior Class. I can't read which, the sensors are still malfunctioning." The captain nodded to himself.

"On screen."

"Captain Troi, sensors detect two Borg ships in your vicinity. Do you require assistance?" the familiar face of the Captain of the newly recommissioned _Defiant_ stared down at them. Jeanne smiled slightly at the first Klingon to be awarded Captaincy in Star Fleet.

"Any and all gladly appreciated, we're under attack. It's good to see you, Worf." The captain grinned.

"Just like old times Captain, not so little a ship now though." The Klingon said with a straight face. Jeanne fought down a giggle, remembering a conversation she had been told had happened during the last Borg uprising.

"Worf, you made a joke." A third torpedo hit made the screen crackle.

"Captain, aft shields at 5..." Interrupting her father, she stared at the number; sure it had to be a mistake. Shaking off her shock she continued. "Hull breach on decks 4, 5 and 6. Force fields holding."

"Seal off the areas and divert power to the shields. Worf, your presence is greatly required."

"On my way, with the _Valiant_ and _Reliant_." Will Troi nodded.

"Enterprise out." He motioned for Jeanne to terminate the video link. "Helm, take us about, lets show these Borg what we're made of. Jeanne, full phaser fire, set them to random, attack plan Riker 20." Deanna glanced at her husband. He looked back. "Deanna, take the helm." Jeanne gaped as her mother rose and took the place of Ensign T'Beg, then turned back to her console.

"Phasers ready, sir." Will looked at his daughter and grinned like a schoolboy in a candy shop.

"Lieutenant, fire at will."

* * *

The rest of the attack passed in a blur of several hours. By the time both Borg ships had, somehow, been destroyed, the Federation ships had fared almost as badly. The _Enterprise_ had suffered severe damage, the Reliant was crippled and the _Valiant _destroyed. Jeanne was too weary to stand, leaning against her Con as she organised rescue shuttles from the _Defiant_ and the _Enterprise_ to collect survivors from the _Valiant_ and the _Reliant_ as the _Reliant_'s life support failed. Finally the only person left aboard the _Reliant_ was her Captain.

"_Reliant_, this is Lt. Troi of the _Enterprise_, please prepare for tractor beam and immediate transport."

"Acknowledged _Enterprise_." The weary voice came across the distance.

"Troi to Transporter Room One."

"Deneuve here, Lieutenant."

"Lock onto the signal from the _Reliant_ and beam him aboard."

"Aye, ma'am." Lieutenant Deneuve replied. Jeanne touched her Combadge again.

"Troi to the Captain."

"Go ahead."

"We are receiving the final survivors now, the _Reliant_ is undertow and her Captain is beaming aboard."

"On my way." The communicator blipped and Jeanne continued to run diagnostics. Will Troi came out of his Ready Room with his First Officer. "Jeanne, you're with me. Commander, you have the bridge." Commander Hall nodded and took his place in the Captain's chair. As the blurry eyed Ensign she had relieved hours before relieved her, Jeanne fell in behind her father and stepped into the Turbolift. "Transporter Room One." They stood silently, until he spoke. "You did well, I'm proud of you."

"Thank you sir." She said, unused to the peculiar position they'd been put in by Starfleet. "I was surprised that you asked Counsellor, mother, to take the helm."

"She knows that manoeuvre best, she was at the helm when it was first used." He smiled, slipping back to his days as Number One aboard the Enterprise. "I thought you'd like to greet the _Reliant_'s Captain yourself." He smiled again, this time at her puzzled look. The doors opened and they walked down the hall to the Transporter Room. "Don't you remember who's been appointed Captain?" the door opened and they entered the Transporter Room as the Captain materialised.

"Captain Troi, permission to come aboard." The lanky dark haired man on the pad requested, a tired look in his eyes.

"Permission granted Captain Cru…" he was interrupted as his daughter gasped, then flew past to hug the man she now recognised.

"Wesley!" She cried to the man she knew so well he was almost a part of her family.

"So this is the infamous Lieutenant Troi." He grinned, kissing her cheek. "You're in trouble young lady." She looked down sheepishly, a slight grin on her face, because she knew what was coming. "You beat my record. Youngest Lieutenant on the _Enterprise_, quickest through Starfleet Academy, highest in your class. And that was some first rate firing. How are you?" Jeanne grinned and started babbling to him even as her father shook his hand. Will stopped listening as the tired Lieutenant Deneuve attracted his attention.

"Captain Worf requests permission to beam aboard with the Captain of the _Valiant._" He nodded grimly.

"Wesley, the catch ups will have to wait I'm afraid, Worf is bringing Captain Davies aboard." Jeanne let Wesley go, and glanced at her padd.

"I'm expected in Engineering, see you at the briefing Uncle Wesley. Nat, are we still on for a drink when this shift ends?" she directed the last at Deneuve as she triangulated the incoming signal from the Defiant.

"Of course Jeanne. I'll see you in Ten Forward at 0100 hours." She replied, not taking her eyes off her controls or the Transporter Pad.

No sooner had Jeanne stepped out of the Turbolift onto the Engineering Deck, than Hall hailed her Combadge.

"Lieutenant Troi to the Bridge."

"Acknowledged." She said wearily, stepping back into the Lift. "Bridge."


	2. Chapter 2

Commander Hall looked around as the young Tactical Officer arrived back on the Bridge.

"Lieutenant Troi, Ensign Ianek has been injured, could you escort him to Sick Bay, and get yourself checked as well please."

"Sir?" she asked, confused as to why she'd been summoned to the Bridge to escort her ensign to the Sick Bay.

"You're off duty Lieutenant. And I saw you fall into that Console hard, you may have cracked a rib. Go get it looked at." He looked at her, "That's an order, Lieutenant."

"Sir, permission to speak freely." He nodded irritably. "If you're worried for the state of my health, why summon me to the bridge?"

"To tell you that I'm dismissing you until 1300 hours tomorrow." She glanced at her console, it was only just 2230. "You have some family friends aboard, do you not? And you have just pulled a triple shift, have you not? Go, before I change my mind. Ensign Ianek, you're dismissed until further notice, depending on the Doctor's report." Hall turned back to the screen in front of him and touched his Comm. "Commander Sulu, have you beamed all the _Valiant_'s debris aboard?"

"Yes sir, we're beginning our analyses now. It should take four hours, there's not much here, but it's pretty burned."

"Very well, keep me updated. Ensign T'Beg, lay in a course for Starbase 284, impulse power only, we don't want to loose the _Reliant_." He glanced behind him as the Turbolift doors fssshed closed behind Jeanne Troi. He felt uncomfortable around the girl, she had Betazoid blood from her mother, but the Counsellor was only half Betazoid herself, which meant Jeanne was only a quarter; he was still unsure how far her telepathic or empathic, which ever it was, powers stretched. Besides that the precocious girl had been chosen by the former Captain, now Admiral Picard to learn under his tutelage at Starfleet Academy, this was her first posting as a Lieutenant, on the _Enterprise_, which usually required an outstanding service record, and on top of that she was the Captain's daughter. In light of all this, why was he so attracted to her that he would call her to the bridge only to dismiss her from duty? He could have just as easily done that over the Comm.

* * *

In the Turbolift Jeanne smiled.

"What's to smile about?" The injured Ianek gasped as he grasped hold of the rail in the Turbolift. She glanced at him taking in his face, slick with feverish sweat, and then knelt in front of him. "Hey, hey, we're in a Turbolift, Lieutenant, now is hardly the time." She laughed.

"Ianek, I hardly think I'm likely to do anything of that sort, in a Turbolift on board ship with my parents." She tutted as she lifted his tunic slightly. "When did you do this?"

"When I was sprawled at your feet." She nodded and tapped her Comm.

"Troi to the Bridge."

"Hall here."

"Commander, Ianek's got a deep wound on his side, nothing serious, but he says he did it when he fell over at my console. Could you have someone check the area for sharp dangerous objects?"

"I'll do it myself Lieutenant. Hall out." Ianek laughed at Jeanne's puzzled face.

"You're wondering why he said he'd do it himself? He's sweet on you, Lieutenant. That's why he called you to the Bridge instead of telling you over your Comm. that you're off-duty until 1300 tomorrow."

"He likes me? But he goes out of his way to be rude, to cause trouble for me." She ran back through her memory of the last three weeks on board ship.

"You're the Captain's daughter." Ianek shrugged, "its unknown territory, Lieutenant. I should know." Now it was Jeanne's turn to laugh. She stood up and kissed him on the cheek before the doors opened.

"That's enough of that, Ensign." She chided him, ducking under his arm and taking his weight on her shoulder. They made their way slowly to the Sick Bay, Jeanne starting to realise that Hall was right, she had damaged her ribs. They reached Sick Bay and once inside Jeanne let herself drop, supporting Ianek to the floor and then leaning on a bunk shaking before a nurse came over. "Sorry, um, Ensign Ianek has a laceration on his side, I think I've cracked a rib, we've both done three straight shifts and could really do with some Synthehol." The nurse smiled.

"Jeanne, you're not getting any alcohol, synthesised or not, until I've checked you over." She called over her shoulder, "Doctor, there's an ensign here needing attention." The girl smiled at Jeanne again, "come on lets get you up."

"Lucy, did you know that Wesley came aboard about 15 minutes ago?"

"I had heard, but I haven't managed to see him yet." His half sister replied, her red tresses covering her face from Jeanne's view as she helped her to a bed. "Lie down."

"Nurse Howard?" Doctor Barnes called over. "Do you require assistance?"

"No doctor, she's a difficult patient, but I think I can manage to subdue her." Jeanne laughed at the thought of Lucy pinning her to the table. "Computer, rest…"

"No, no Lucy, I don't need restraining, I'll behave." She begged, sitting up suddenly as Ianek was taken into the other room. "Where are they taking him?"

"That's the operating room, Jeanne, they'll need to sew him up, and better to do that where you lot can't see it."

"Lucy, I keep meaning to ask. Why the name Howard? I mean your mother is Beverley Crusher, that name…"

"Would give me a leg up, yes, I know, but I don't want people giving me advantages because of my name. There are other people who are better than me, who if I started flashing my name around might be overlooked. So I took my grandmother's name." She shrugged, "Mother didn't understand, but she accepted it." She completed the scan of Jeanne, "you're fine. Nothing wrong with you that a bit of rest wouldn't fix."

"No time to rest." Jeanne said, jumping down off the table with a quick smile. "I've got to go work out what's wrong with the scanners, and then Worf and Wesley are here." She paused, "I'm meeting Nat in Ten Forward at 0100, do you think you will be off duty by then?"

"I hope so." The young trainee sighed, glancing around at the beds of groaning patients. She watched as Jeanne hurried to where they'd taken the Ensign.

"Jeanne, you are so very pretty." A disembodied voice came from the other room.

"Hush ensign, don't embarrass yourself." Doctor Barnes' voice overrode it. "Yes, Lieutenant, how can I help?"

"Will he be alright?" the doctor nodded. "Good, would it be possible for you to make sure that Nurse Howard is given some free time – her brother has arrived on board and it's past time that they spoke. Perhaps make sure that she goes to Ten Forward for 0100 hours?"

"I will do what I can." Julius accented quietly, glancing towards the studious redhead bent over a new patient. He turned his attention back to Jeanne Troi, but the Sick Bay doors were already closing behind her.

* * *

Will sent a communiqué to his chief officers to meet in the Council room at 2315. He looked at the button saying send next to his daughter's name and chuckled. His wife came and sat in his lap and he looked at her.

"Jeanne did very well today." She said, quietly as she stroked his hair, which was finally going a steely grey.

"So did you." He said kissing her gently. "It reminded me of the Enterprise D when we faced down B'Etor and Lussa. When you took the helm of the Saucer section and crashed us as safely as possible."

"Yes, you've been thinking of the old days a lot recently, haven't you?"

"It's only natural, I suppose, considering where we are going." He winced as she tugged on his beard.

"Do you remember, before the Ba'Ku incident when you shaved your beard for me?"

"Yes, I remember. That's what won you back."

"It made me feel like we were young again." She glanced around their quarters, "being back here made me feel young again, but, now that Jeanne's here, I feel so old, and so worried. She's running around, taking risks, I can't help but worry."

"I know, but at least she's here with us, if she were anywhere else you'd still be worried." He soothed her, always knowing how to calm his usually level headed wife. It was only when it came to their precocious daughter that she lost that level-headedness. The computer beeped, reminding him of the time. "It's time for the meeting." She nodded and stood up, as he joined her at the door she tugged his tunic straight. "Maybe I should shave my beard again." He quipped as they left the room, she smiled a little and tugged his beard again.

"Maybe." She replied as he winced.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Apologies, it must seem like I've abandonned this one, but it's still ticking over, albeit slowly. Next chapter will probably be up tomorrow if I get a chance. Hope you enjoy, as usual don't own any of the Star Trekkie stuff - just the imagination that pulled it together and intro'd a whole load of new characters. Am having a feeling that I've put this in the wrong category, but I hope no one minds too much... C x**

Jeanne's Comm. beeped as she hurried from the Sick Bay to Engineering. She stopped at the next computer port, having forgotten her Padd on the bridge and read the cursory message from her father. She thanked the Computer and continued on her way. Sulu was waiting for her.

"You said you'd be here 50 minutes ago." She scolded the younger girl as she handed her a report on the current status of the scanners.

"I got held up, first the Captain wanted me to greet the Captain of the Reliant, then Hall ordered me to report to the Bridge, and as soon as I got there, sent me to Sick Bay." Jeanne looked down at the readouts. "But, it says it's all working fine. And that it has been working fine all night."

"Aye, it looks that way, doesn't it?" Hikaru Sulu's great-grand-daughter looked quizzically at Jeanne. "Are you sure it was malfunctioning?"

"Positive. It didn't pick up the two Borg cubes until they were 50 kilometres away, it read 3 torpedoes when there was only one, and it registered three Federation ships as one Excelsior Class of unknown name. Here, I recorded all the data as it happened." She passed Alison Sulu the Padd Ianek had plugged in to record the data. Sulu read the two side by side quickly.

"Yes, yes, I see. It's a problem with your console. But, we'll have to deal with it later, its 2310, we have a meeting to be getting to." She called out some instructions to her second and headed out the door with the young Lieutenant.

"It can't be 2310 already, I was on the Bridge at 2230, and all I've done since is go to Sick Bay with Ianek. That can't have taken 40 minutes."

"Trust me, on this ship it can. So Hall's being a bit hard on you then?"

"Yes, Ianek thinks it's because he has a fancy for me."

"But you think it's about your mother and father?"

"Yes, how did you…?"

"I'm Hikaru Sulu's great-granddaughter; my grandmother was at the helm when Kirk was lost. My mother and father were aboard the _Enterprise-C_ when she was destroyed. I know about famous parents."

"Yet you chose to take your great-grandfather's surname."

"Only after his death. It was fitting, he helped raise me, and no one was insulted. You're thinking about changing your surname? To something less conspicuous as your friend Lucy Howard has?"

"It's crossed my mind. But Riker is even better known – the great Riker manoeuvre, Picard's famed Number One. Lucy doesn't want credit where she doesn't deserve it, neither do I."

"And I didn't when I was your age, but Jeanne, on this ship, everyone knows so you can't hide, and no one is granting you any favours, or trying to make things more difficult for you. You've gotten yourself through the Academy on your own merit, with Picard and Riker at your back. Now is not the time to change your name, not when you've just made it for yourself." They came to the door into the Council Room and waited until it fssshed open. No one else was there yet, and Alison Sulu frowned. "That's odd." She looked at the two Padd's in her hand. "Oh. Troi, I think your console has a virus, I used the Padd you gave me to tell the time, it's 15 minutes out according to my Padd." She crossed to the Computer Console. "Computer, what time is it?"

"It is 2300 hours exactly." The computer's voice replied. Sulu continued questioning it, whilst Jeanne looked out of the wide windows at the stars and the two trailing ships. She touched her fingers to the combadge on her breast.

"Lieutenant Troi to the Bridge."

"Hall here."

"Commander Sulu and myself have located the problem with my Con sir, it has a virus of some kind. Suggest you cut it off from systems and use a different console for sensors."

"Acknowledged Hall out." She suddenly thought of the sweat on Ianek's brow.

"Lieutenant Troi to Sick Bay."

"Barnes here."

"Dr Barnes, how is Ensign Ianek?"

"Not good I'm afraid, he appears to have some kind of virus, I'm afraid I don't recognise it. I've quarantined him for now, but it doesn't look good, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, doctor, could you prepare a report on this for the meeting please. Troi out."

Sulu was watching her carefully.

"You'll do just fine. His injury was sustained on the console I take it."

"Yes, he cut himself on a piece of metal. Damn it, if I'd been paying more attention he wouldn't have fallen."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he was trying to help me at the console, when a torpedo hit, I staggered and knocked his balance out."

"And how precisely do you think you could have prevented that? You are not prophetic, empathic yes, telepathic yes, but prophetic? No. You could not have foreseen his accident, and you could not have prevented it. It could be that the two are unrelated, we don't know yet. Stop blaming yourself."

Jeanne started to form a reply but was halted as a string of officers arrived and took their places.

When they'd all arrived, she found herself sat next to Captain Davies. The Welshman was pale, his features drawn and careworn. Thanks to the _Defiant_'s fast Transporter Officer he had been the last person beamed aboard ship, arriving on the Bridge of the _Defiant_ in time to see his ship, the _Valiant _implode. Out of the crew of 350, 190 had survived, there had been time for 200 to escape in the escape pods, but at least half had been destroyed by Borg fire and the blast caused by the destruction of the _Valiant_. The other 90 accounted for had been beamed directly aboard the three remaining Star ships in a feat that would go down in history. Jeanne understood full well her friend Lt. Deneuve's fatigued face as she sat opposite her, she had been forced to locate and save as many as she could in a space of 3 minutes between the fatal shot and the final blast, those she beamed aboard frequently in a state of shock, burnt or barely alive. With the power diverted to shields, and the limited time she had as Jeanne lowered and raised the shields, she could only beam them to the Transporter room, where med teams assembled to get the severely injured to Sick Bay. Jeanne and Nat had worked closely together to make sure that it was possible, exhausting each other as they worked quickly and as Jeanne also timed the lowered shields with firing all weapons at the enemy.

"If it wasn't for the quick thinking of Lieutenants Troi and Deneuve, and their counterparts on the _Defiant_ and the _Reliant_, less than half those saved would have survived." Davies delivered his praise and thanks in the dead voice of someone who has lost everything.

"There is one thing that neither Wesley nor I could determine." Worf spoke up suddenly. "The shots that crippled the _Valiant_ did not appear to come from the Borg cubes." Will frowned at his friend. "It is unexplainable Riker, at the time the _Enterprise_ was between the second Borg Cube and the _Valiant_, the first had been rendered incapacitated by a dual attack by myself and Wesley. The second cube was the only one that could have inflicted the damage, but the trajectory was off." Before Worf had even finished speaking, a chill had spread down Jeanne's spine and she began to scroll down the two Padds that Sulu had handed back to her. She stifled a curse as it came to her.

"It wasn't the Borg." She said haltingly. "the shot that crippled the _Valiant_'s shields." She looked at her father desperately. This could finish her career and it was being recorded for Star Fleet, she tried to tell him, turn the recorder off, but knew that he wouldn't, that he couldn't. Deanna looked at her daughter sensing the despair that was coming off Jeanne in waves.

"Lieutenant Troi?" Worf asked. Jeanne looked at his fierce Klingon features. She blinked away tears.

"It was me." She said quietly. Finding courage she spoke again, louder. "It was me. My console has a virus, it wasn't showing me the true sensor readings, I aimed a shot, and apparently, I aimed not at the Borg cube as I thought, but at the _Valiant_. Not the killing shot, but the shot which disabled the shields." She turned to Captain Davies on her left. "Captain, I…" she started to apologise, but her father overrode her.

"Lieutenant Troi, you are dismissed from this meeting. Take charge of the Bridge for the night shift." She nodded mutely and left. "Commander Sulu, you will double the team working on the Valiant's wreckage. We need to know anything you can tell us. Lieutenant Deneuve – if you are not too tired, join Lieutenant Troi on the Bridge."

"Captain? I'm not a qualified Bridge officer."

"No but you are a qualified friend. Go, now." She nodded and she and Sulu rose and left together. Will Troi turned to the rest of the meeting. "Until we have further information on that we will let it lie and look into the rest of the events of this evening." There was a murmur of agreement and the meeting moved on.

*~*~*~*~*

Jeanne relieved the deck officer and took the night shift. She sat in the fabled chair momentarily, thinking that this may be the closest she would ever come to be a Captain after this fiasco.

"It's not your fault Jeanne." Nat said as she sat in the counsellor's chair. "Now come on let's get to work and clear your name." Jeanne nodded and went to her console. It was powered down to prevent further contamination, as she'd requested. She plugged in a PowerPac so that it didn't have to be plugged back into the main Computer and went to work. Nat sat beside her, acting as nurse in a surgery, passing tools as they were needed. The diagnostics run on the console itself picked nothing up. A diagnostic run on the tri-corder Nat had brought from Cmdr Sulu started to pinpoint the problem, but there was still something. She sat back on her heels suddenly, looking through Nat.

"What's wrong?" Nat asked her urgently.

"I just worked out what's been bugging me. No one corrected the mistakes I was making. No one on the bridge told me that I was wrong. Why not? The only reason no one corrected me would be if their consoles were telling them the same things. Everyone has access to the scanners. It's just policy that I read it out, but they must have been seeing what I was seeing." She rose and went to her father's chair. "See, exactly the same as my readout." She said, pulling up the sensor recordings from her Father's mini computer in the arm of his chair.

"Yes, ok, but what does that mean?" Nat said, puzzled. She checked the Helm, "this says the same. What does that mean Jeanne, because if it means what I think it means…"

"We're in trouble. Yes. Holy **** I should have seen this sooner." She touched her combadge. "Troi to the Captain."

"Riker here." Nat giggled at the Captain's slip, knowing it would be Worf's influence.

"Captain, the problem is bigger than I first thought. Request permission…" She paused, knowing that this could be a big risk. "Request permission to activate the Battle Bridge."

"Troi, what is going on?"

"Captain, what do the sensors indicate outside, right now?"

"The _Reliant_ undertow and the _Defiant i_n convey. What is this about?"

"I'm on your computer and I am currently reading one Excelsior-class ship off our starboard Nacelle." Nat tapped her combadge to join the conversation.

"I'm reading the same on the helm sir. It would seem that the entire bridge is contaminated."

"Very well, Lieutenant Troi. Call the secondary Bridge crew to the Battle Bridge. Meet me there with a full report. Riker out." Jeanne nodded to herself.

"Secondary Bridge crew, report to the Battle Bridge, secondary bridge crew to the Battle Bridge." "Computer, activate Battle Bridge, and quarantine all systems on the Bridge." "Ensign T'Beg, you are relieved of duty." She fired off commands swiftly, then paused. "Troi to Sick Bay."

"Barnes." Came a perfunctory response.

"Dr Barnes, what's Ianek's condition?"

"He's stable, I'm planning on putting him in stasis until I can discover a cure…" she cut him off.

"The survivors of the _Valiant_, are they…"

"Showing early signs of the same? Yes I'm afraid they are. Lieutenant, what precisely is going on? Are you separating the ship?"

"No doctor, I'm quarantining the Bridge. I have no time to explain. Quarantine all those showing signs of the virus, and anyone who has been injured by something from the _Valiant_. Also, quarantine any instruments used on the patients. Troi out."

"Now what?" Natalya asked quietly.

"I don't know." Jeanne admitted.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: Ok, so this is where the story goes into the realms of insanity and disbelief, but it's Star Trek so I think it's ok... As I'm not sure if this is going completely and utterly off the scale reviews would be really helpful! Don't own any of it and don't make any money off it etc etc. Hope you enjoy :D Cx**

* * *

Deanna regarded her husband throughout the rest of the meeting. Once it had drawn to a close, and the recorder had been turned off, and everyone else had left she spoke.

"Will, what are we going to do? Our daughter just admitted sabotage, on a live broadcast to Starfleet." Before he could reply, her daughter's voice crackled through the comm. Deanna listened intently to her daughter's halting explanation, pulling up the data she asked for on the main screen. She turned the screen to face her husband and he read the readings out to his daughter. She watched his face as it grew grim at what his daughter said. He signed off and she smiled at his use of his own surname.

"You haven't said that in a while." She commented as she rose, pulling her violet trimmed uniform back down into place. "It must be Worf's presence on the ship."

"We've none of us been together on the _Enterprise _since that day," he paused, "since Data's funeral. LaForge and the Captain stayed here, the rest of us scattered to the winds. Jean Luc was promoted, Geordi resigned, but none of us apart from me and you have been together on this ship since then. The fight with the Borg, it reminded me of, of the fight where we had to rescue Worf from his damaged drifting ship, before we went back in time to keep the Borg from stopping first contact." He stopped, and looked at her. "That was 23 years ago, Deanna, and it hasn't changed, we're still fighting the Borg, still loosing ships to them." She sensed his need and, putting her arms around him, sat down in his lap gently. She leaned close to his ear and spoke softly to him.

"At least the _Valiant _was only destroyed, we saved many of them, it would have been worse if they'd been boarded." She said, putting a finger against his lips to stop him starting to speak. "They are better dead than assimilated, _Imzadi_, we have plenty to be thankful for, and little time to spend dwelling on the past. We need to work out what's happening to the ship, we need to help our daughter." She looked at him closely, sensing the slow change in his emotions. Eventually she sensed the decisive resolve she knew so well flowing from his psyche. She stayed where she was for a few seconds more, watching the flicker of emotions on his face even as she felt them in his mind. They had known each other too long for him to be able to hide anything from her. Their love affair had had begun 38 years ago, a long period of longing, of distance from one another yet tied together by duty to the ship, its captain and its crew. In those years she had learnt him almost inside out, and now, often to his chagrin, he could never fool her. She also knew what to say to make him listen, and telling him his daughter needed him would usually do the trick. Nodding to herself she stood up smoothly and moved back to her seat. Behind her Will rose, a small furrow on his brow the only hint of his troubles. As he left the room he turned back to her.

"I'll meet you on the Battle Bridge." The door fssshed closed behind him and she gathered up some papers. She left the room quietly and went to her office to look at some files. She wanted to be able to get in touch with Starbase 284 to inform them of their situation and to enquire after Jean-Luc's health, but knew that they were still too far for even a subspace communication. Beverley, she was sure, would be able to work out this problem.

*~*~*~*~*

Lucy was almost at her wits end, three of the nurses assigned to caring for the survivors from the _Valiant_ had fallen sick with whatever the bug was, leaving just her, Nurse Hame, two junior doctors and Julius to deal with the huge influx of injured and quarantined patients. She glanced around, nobody seemed to need her immediately and she ducked into the CMO's office. Accessing the computer was easy, and she glanced around cautiously before pulling up the files that she wanted to see. They were files her mother had told her about years before, when she and her father were regaling her with tales from the great Enterprise. She had a feeling she had heard of symptoms like these before, and she was also fairly certain that Julius wouldn't have thought to look up these files, even though he was a highly rated doctor. Some things on the _Enterprise_ throughout the years had been played down in Starfleet to avoid uproar and outrage at what the crew was frequently faced with. She found what she was looking for, and glanced at the attached star date. Wesley would have been on the _Enterprise_ at the time. She slipped to the door, Julius and the doctors were still busy. Sitting back at the desk she touched her combadge.

"Howard to Crusher." She said tentatively, unsure if her brother would want to respond. When he replied he sounded tired, and muffled.

"Crusher here. What do you want Lucy?"

"I need your help. You were onboard ship when there was similar outbreak to this. Can you come to Sick Bay."

"Lucy, it's been a really long day, and my ship is in pieces, I really…"

"I know all that, and I'm sorry I woke you up, I wouldn't ask only, besides the Captain and the Counsellor you're the only person onboard this _Enterprise _who was onboard the _Enterprise D_. I don't want to bother the Captain, he's got enough to deal with with the infection affecting the ship and the crew. I just heard the call that they've diverted power to the Battle Bridge. Please Wes, just come help?"

"Ok, I'm on my way. Crusher out." She silently thanked whatever God there may be in the universe, and transferred the file to her Padd. She hid it on the main screen and then heard her name being called urgently.

"Nurse Howard!" Julius's voice was strangled. She leapt up, feeling like she'd been caught with her fingers in the cookie jar and dashed to the main ward. To find chaos.

"The sedative's wearing off faster than it should. Help me dose them all again." He said when he saw her.

"Where are doctor's Nanab and Christen?" she asked glancing around.

"They've somehow succumbed. I have them in pre-op under heavy sedation." The first patient she came to was Ianek.

"Hi Luce, it bloody hurts this does." He smiled faintly.

"I know love," she responded checking his temperature. "Oh holy… you're freezing James. You should be going into hypothermic shock at that temperature." She checked his pulse, it was fast and erratic. "Computer, core temperature of patients, bed numbers 1 through 10" she said to the panel above his head. "It's gonna be fine, James, I promise. Jeanne would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

"You really think so Luce?"

"I know so." She replied confidently, before the computer replied.

"Patient bed numbers 1 through 10 all reading temperature of 0.2 Celsius." She tried to hide her frown and failed.

"That's really bad isn't it?" Ianek asked worriedly, sitting up as Lucy turned to beckon another nurse over.

"Nurse Hame, can you check the other patients, provide them with heated blankets if they're cold." She dismissed the older woman by turning back to the ensign in the bed next to her. "Right, Mr Ianek. Can you feel your extremities?"

"Yes, everything's fine. Lucy I don't even feel cold."

"Can you wiggle your toes and then clench your fist for me?" he did so, she frowned. Everything was working fine, but it shouldn't be, although…

"I just remembered something, bear with me one second… Computer, display file Crusher-Alpha-90-30-91, authorisation Howard-Beta-90." The computer did so and she scanned the symptoms. "James, don't question this, just punch me, in the stomach."

"Lucy… what?"

"Just call it medical research, now punch me." She clenched her stomach muscles and braced herself, but when the blow came found herself flying across the room. "Golly!" she muttered as she staggered to her feet. Ianek was sat up in bed, starting to climb out. "Oh no, back in bed you." She said in gasps.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, bit winded is all. Your hands, that punch was like a frozen baseball bat."

"But I pulled it. I didn't hit you full on." He spluttered trying to get out of bed again. She pushed him back into bed and soothed him.

"Shush. Don't worry. We'll work it out." She left his bed for a moment, walking into the office, once she was out of his line of sight she pulled up her tunic.

"Christ!" Her brother exclaimed as he walked into Sick Bay. She looked at him as he stared at the purple bruise swelling over her abdomen. "What did you do?"

"I used my body as a test subject for one of my patients." She muttered, groping on a tray for a shot of nerve killers.

"That makes no sense." Wesley said. "Here, sit, let me." He took the hypo and pressed it against her skin. As she sighed in relief he looked at her intently. "Now, what was this in aid of?"

"I needed one final piece of evidence to prove my theory." She glanced down and then towards the ward where Ensign Ianek lay. "I need you to look at these." She pulled the tunic down, and straightened with a wince before walking out into the ward. He followed her, glancing around to find the doctors.

"Are you running the ward alone?" He asked, a note of shock in his voice.

"No, no, Dr Barnes is in the other room, doing the same as me, trying to cure all of these." She stopped at Ianek's bed. "The symptom's on the left are those from today, the one's on the right are the ones that Crusher identified." He glanced at her once as she referred to their mother as Crusher then turned his attention to the screen.

"Computer, identify similarities in the cases." The computer highlighted 90% of both sides of the screen. "You're right, the cases are close. But there are differences." He pointed to the BP, "the initial cases BP was through the roof, this new one is low. The temperature in mum's case fluctuated, this is at a set rate, and it's low."

"But it's not affecting their bodily functions, they're hard as ice, but they can move their joints and everything is, technically, working."

"Apart from the renal failure." He pointed out. "What doesn't make sense is the high fever, then the bottoming out of the temperature."

"Yes, but we're looking at a 32 year gap, things evolve over 30 years. It could be that this is how it's evolved." She touched the screen, and the symptom's on her mother's case changed, showing the final decisive point. "This, this is how we can prove it. We need to be sure before we can subject them to the cure – it's a bad cure."

"But, that…" he grabbed her arm and pulled her to one side, "that's too dangerous on a ship of this size, on any ship. It's radiation."

"It highlights the virus in the patients systems. If we do this then…"

"We could kill them. It's a B class radiation."

"We can seal off Sick Bay, no one will know."

"It'll register on the computers. Whoever is manning the Bridge will know instantaneously. We cannot do this."

"If we're going to find out what's affecting the crew, the ship itself, before it gets worse, we have to do this." He shook his head, trying to think of how to talk her out of it. "I need a ranking officer to authorise it." She said quietly. He looked at the chart on the screen again and nodded.

"Fine. I'll do it."


End file.
